Oregon State vs Stanford NCAA Football Betting Preview

Posted by Alex Murphy on Wednesday,September 23, 2015 8:25, EDT in

The Oregon State Beavers will look to cover the spread as huge home underdogs in their Week 4 match up against a Stanford Cardinal team that just pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the young 2015 college football betting regular season. Now, the Beavers will look to pull off their own upset in Week 4 and bring home the bacon for college football bettors that like them this weekend. Now, let’s find out if Oregon State can bring home the bacon against a Stanford team that just entered the national Top 25 by beating the Trojans on Saturday.

How To Bet the Cardinal @ Beavers NCAA Football Odds, TV & GaNo. 24 Stanford at Oregon State

When: Friday, September 25, 10:00 PM ET
Where: Reser Stadium, Corvallis, Oregon
NCAAF Odds: Stanford -15.5
Over/Under: OFF

Why Bet on the Oregon State Beavers

After trailing 21-14 at the half, Oregon State woke up to put three touchdowns on the board in the third quarter while simultaneously shutting out San Jose State in the second half of their convincing 35-21 Week 2 win over the Spartans as 6-point home favorites. The Beavers bounced back from their humbling 35-7 Week 2 loss at Michigan thanks to a stellar outing from dual-threat freshman quarterback Seth Collins who passed for 135 yards and one touchdown and added another 114 rushing yards and two scores. Oregon State also got a fine performance from elusive running back Storm Woods who added 151 rushing yards and one touchdown in the win. Overall, the Beavers finished with 303 rushing yards on 46 attempts after getting held to 138 total yards of offense in their Week 2 loss to the Wolverines.

Why Bet on the Stanford Cardinal

The Stanford Cardinal came through for me in a big way this past weekend, pulling off the outright road upset over 41-31 over No. 6 USC to jump back into the Top 25 and revive their hopes for a big-time bowl game after getting upset in their regular season by Northwestern. “The guys were celebrating after the game,” Stanford coach David Shaw said. “But I reminded them that we don’t get a trophy for this one. It’s a regular-season game against a conference opponent that we won on the road. That’s great. But we get back to work.”

The Cardinal got a fantastic game from quarterback Kevin Hogan as the oft-embattled signal-caller completed 18 of 23 passes for 279 yards with two touchdowns. Stanford used their old-school ball-control offense to control the clock for nearly 40 minutes and got a stellar performance from exciting sophomore running back Christian McCaffrey, the son of former NFL star Ed McCaffery.

Ranked 14th in the country in all-purpose yards at 165.8 per game, McCaffery roasted USC for 249 all-purpose yards, including 115 rushing yards on 26 carries. “We felt like we had an unbelievable week of practice,” Hogan said. “Everyone put in extra time in the film room after practice to make sure we were ready to go. We made sure we stuck to the game plan and executed, and it’s a nice feeling to go out in the second half and run the clock out, playing our style, running between the tackles and wearing them down.”

My Expert Game Analysis and Pick

I’m going to urge college football bettors everywhere to back the Oregon State Beavers in this contest – although nearly every key ATS trend for this contest is pointing toward a solid Stanford cover. Stanford has a wonderful defense and a time-eating ball-control offense, but Oregon State has a decent share of legitimate play-makers on its roster and should be able to keep the final score within two touchdowns, particularly playing in front of their home fans.

Stanford has gone 8-2 SU and 6-3-1 ATS in their last 10 games as a favorite of eight points or more and 5-0 ATS in their last five meetings against Oregon State. The Cardinal are also 18-8 ATS in their last 26 games in the month of September while the Beavers have gone 2-5 ATS in their last seven home games.

Still, with Oregon State averaging just 3.3 fewer points per game than Stanford while allowing just 3.0 points per game more defensively, I say the Beavers find a way to cover the spread as home dogs.

The Pick: Oregon State +15.5 Points